Signing you in

In Pimpri-Chinchwad, the collapse of a legacy waste mound at the Moshi garbage depot, which killed nine workers, has intensified scrutiny of waste management practices region-wide. Residents in Bhosari and nearby industrial belts say indiscriminate roadside dumping along Nashik Phata-Bhosari Road, Bhoradewadi-Moshi Road, Mahadev Nagar and Chakrapani Nagar has worsened since the tragedy, as collection vehicles and enforcement teams have become irregular.

A similar pattern plays out on Pashan-Sus Road, where an empty plot behind the Shivshakti Chowk vegetable market has become an unofficial dump, drawing crows and pigs. Residents say the market isn’t the source — people from across the area dump household waste and debris there throughout the week. At least half a dozen similar sites exist nearby, according to residents.

Underlying much of this is a quieter crisis: SWaCH’s 4,100 waste pickers—mostly women from marginalised castes—who collect segregated waste from 10 lakh properties are frequently stranded with sacks of trash when Pune Municipal Corporation trucks are delayed or don’t arrive at all.

SWaCH COO Sarthak Tapasvi says enforcement against citizens who dump waste remains weak, and a lack of specialised facilities for mattresses, furniture and cloth waste pushes such items onto the streets. He calls for on-site wet waste processing by bulk generators and greater transparency around PMC’s inconclusive pilot programmes, warning that without these reforms, Pune’s waste problem will persist.

Q: Most public places in the city are unclean and garbage is dumped across the city. Why is this happening?

Nair: It’s a fact that public places, mainly those alongside civic roads, are witnessing garbage piling up. If there is drainage leakage, the water evaporates, but the garbage cannot go away on its own unless it is picked up. The garbage must be picked up, which requires sufficient manpower. The civic body has not increased its cleanliness staff in the last ten years, despite the civic area increasing tremendously after the inclusion of 34 villages.

Q: How is the PMC going to tackle the issue of garbage piling up in public places?

Nair: We are terribly understaffed and short of resources to process solid waste. Thus, we are working on both fronts to tackle the issue efficiently. The present manpower was catering to 2,300 km of road cleaning, but in reality, the city has a total road length of 6,919 km. To keep the city clean, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has now decided to hire more contractual staff to fill the gap.

Q: The PMC already spends huge amounts of money on contractual staff. How will increasing the staff resolve the issue?

Nair: We are adopting a new strategy for road cleaning. Earlier, we used to hire contractors to provide manpower for cleanliness, but now the strategy is that the contractor will be responsible for keeping the road clean, not merely providing manpower. The contractor will have to appoint cleanliness staff for every 700 metres of road. If the PMC finds negligence of duty by the contractor, the contract will be terminated. This will ensure that contractors keep the roads clean. The same model is being implemented in the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation.

Q: What about proper processing of waste, considering the generation of garbage is increasing in the city due to rapid urbanisation?

Nair: A total of 2,700 metric tonnes of waste is generated in the city every day. This has increased after the inclusion of new villages in the PMC limits. Of the total waste generated, 1,000 metric tonnes is wet waste, while 1,700 metric tonnes is dry waste. Garbage processing is much lower compared to the waste being generated. The processing capacity is high on paper, but in reality, most processing plants have not delivered the desired results and have underperformed, although some plants have performed above capacity. The PMC has decided to make the underperforming plants improve and meet their targets.

Q: When can we expect to see a visible change in the city’s cleanliness situation?

Nair: The decision to increase manpower with a new strategy for cleaning roads will begin from August 1, and I am confident that there will be a change in the situation from August 15 onwards. This will be visible, and the change will be positive. On the processing front, increasing capacity requires machines, funds and manpower. The issue will be resolved by the end of September.

Q: As per rules, large housing societies have to process wet garbage at source, but it has been noticed that most societies do not do it. What is being done to remedy this?

Nair: Bulk waste generators, mainly housing societies, must process wet waste at source. There are many big societies that are bulk generators of waste and are old. If they are forced to manage their waste, they hire a private agency, which then deposits the waste into the PMC system.

Q: Are there any plans to improve civic sense among citizens and prevent littering in public places?

Nair: The PMC will have to improve its performance in waste management first before expecting anything from citizens. I believe that once the civic body starts keeping the city clean, citizens will also join us and ensure they do not dump waste in the open. It is a human tendency that if there is garbage dumping in the open, people also put their waste in the same place. But if the area is kept clean, they will also ensure that it remains clean. So things will change once we improve, and it will happen soon.